The loss of Don Coryell reminds me what coaching should be about. I had the privilege of working with Coryell, first as sports editor of the student newspaper at San Diego State, then as assistant sports information director there, and finally as a newspaper reporter.

Like John Wooden, Coryell coached winning teams and was innovative. But what I learned from Don was how to deal with people. He treated each of his players, and everyone he came in contact with, with the utmost respect. He gave you 100% of his attention and was genuinely concerned about your success, on and off the field. He made you feel special and important, and vital to the team's success.

With this approach, Coryell turned out not only winning teams but, more important, winning people. It's an injustice that he isn't enshrined in the pro football Hall of Fame.

And it's not a function of "anti-immigrant nativists" or American arrogance. The answer is perfectly clear. Though playing soccer might be fun, watching it on television is deadly dull. The officiating is arbitrary and capricious, and years appear to go by between goals.

I've watched some of this year's World Cup "action" over the last few weeks, but once the series ends, I'll go back to a more exciting spectator sport: listening to golf on the radio.

Jerry WrightLos Angeles

Every four years, during the World Cup, the U.S. gets ridiculed for not living and dying for soccer.

The reason for this is easily explained: baseball, basketball, football and hockey — four sports that display more skill and have more action. Not to mention actual scoring.

The real question is, why doesn't the rest of the world get the incredible sports of baseball, basketball, football and hockey?